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Have you ever wondered what the highest and lowest points were in an SEC school’s history? Well, look no further.
The table below shows the highest and lowest that each SEC school’s winning percentage has ever been. Included in the table is the year after which the school posted that percentage, along with the win-loss-tie record at that time. These are based on official records, meaning vacated wins were not counted.
Another parameter used here (hat tip to Reddit.com user “ktffan”) is that the first 20 years for each school weren’t included since the records back in those days aren’t reliable, plus most teams played so few games. For instance, a 1-1 season was very common before the turn of the 20th century.
I’ll let you take a look at the table first before providing some takeaways. The table below is sorted by school in alphabetical order:
| SCHOOL | HIGH PCT | HIGH YEAR (W-L-T) | LOW PCT | LOW YEAR (W-L-T) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alabama | .734 | 1981 (585-199-42) | .600 | 1912 (70-45-10) |
| Arkansas | .613 | 1929 (153-94-15) | .525 | 1953 (249-224-29) |
| Auburn | .695 | 1922 (135-56-12) | .550 | 1952 (250-201-35) |
| Florida | .670 | 1925 (95-44-11) | .543 | 1955 (225-187-25) |
| Georgia | .649 | 2015 (786-413-54) | .520 | 1911 (60-55-12) |
| Kentucky | .643 | 1916 (134-72-11) | .494 | 2015 (592-606-44) |
| LSU | .668 | 1916 (96-46-7) | .614 | 1957 (314-191-33) |
| Mississippi State | .592 | 1920 (86-58-9) | .479 | 2009 (490-534-39) |
| Missouri | .615 | 1927 (172-104-20) | .531 | 2002 (551-483-52) |
| Ole Miss | .600 | 1971 (394-257-31) | .477 | 1932 (130-143-12) |
| South Carolina | .530 | 1934 (157-138-18) | .479 | 1919 (75-82-10) |
| Tennessee | .705 | 1952 (339-132-34) | .507 | 1912 (66-64-13) |
| Texas A&M | .749 | 1921 (141-43-13) | .568 | 1973 (387-289-45) |
| Vanderbilt | .771 | 1912 (134-36-11) | .496 | 2011 (564-574-50) |
TAKEAWAYS
–Kentucky is currently in the midst of his worst time period in school history with a .494 winning percentage.
–Mississippi State was enduring its lowest point in school history after Dan Mullen finished his first season as head coach in 2009, going 5-7. However, Mississippi State has enjoyed six straight winning seasons since then, the school’s longest streak since a eight-season stretch from 1939-47 (did not field a football team in 1943).
–Georgia and Mark Richt’s marriage has ended, but Richt leaves Georgia at its highest point as the Bulldogs boast a .649 winning percentage over this span.
–Alabama‘s apex came in 1981, which was the second-to-last season of Paul “Bear” Bryant’s historic tenure in Tuscaloosa. The Crimson Tide went 9-2-1 in that campaign, losing to Texas in the Cotton Bowl.
–South Carolina‘s best and worst periods were before World War II even began. The Gamecocks’ best mark, which was after the 1934 season (.530), is only better than a little over half of the current members’ lowest points (eight of 14 teams).
–LSU has been a model of consistency in the sense that its lowest point in 1957 (.614) is still better than the highest point for four other SEC schools: Arkansas, .613; Ole Miss, .600; Mississippi State, .592; South Carolina, .530.
–Vanderbilt‘s lowest point came recently in 2011 after James Franklin’s debut season in Nashville. However, that was before he led the Commodores to back-to-back nine-win seasons after the school hadn’t enjoyed nine wins since 1915.
–Missouri hit rock bottom in 2002, the end of Gary Pinkel’s second season as coach in Columbia. Obviously things got much better after that with Mizzou reaching a bowl game in 10 of his last 13 seasons on the job.
Born and raised in Gainesville, Talal joined SDS in 2015 after spending 2 years in Bristol as an ESPN researcher. Previously, Talal worked at The Gainesville Sun.
